The Justice Roundtable is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 organizations working to reform federal criminal justice laws and policies. Founded in 2002, the Roundtable’s mission is to bring value to the Justice Movement by coordinating the federal legislative and advocacy efforts of the Washington criminal justice advocacy community.
The goals of the Roundtable are to influence public policy at the federal level by:
- reducing mass incarceration and over-reliance on harsh punishment,
- eliminating racial disparities and promoting fairness and equity,
- providing effective alternatives to incarceration and new approaches to address crime and drug policy,
- emphasizing prevention over punishment,
- reintegrating formerly incarcerated people into society,
- bringing domestic justice policies into conformity with international human rights norms.
The Justice Roundtable serves as a hub for coordinating the legislative and advocacy efforts of its partners. In its first decade, the Roundtable was instrumental in the achievement of two major legislative victories that have begun to change the United States’ approach to criminal justice – the Second Chance Act of 2008 and the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. The passage of these bills did not occur in a vacuum. They were partly the result of strategic advocacy by Justice Roundtable Working Groups, which successfully focused the attention of legislators, the media, and the public on the importance of reentry and sentencing issues.
The Justice Roundtable convenes a quarterly assembly, working groups, and periodic public policy events.